


Please Don't Drive Me Blind

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Curse Breaking, Curses, Dark, Demons, Eye Color, Eye Trauma, Gorgons (Hellenistic Religion & Lore), M/M, Minor Violence, Past Relationship(s), Psychic Abilities, Snakes, Urban Fantasy, Violence, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 11:16:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18072419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Years ago, a curse was laid on Atem, that if he should ever look anyone in the eye, they would turn to stone, the irony being that Atem is one of the most talented Seers in JapanNow there's a half-demon named Seto Kaiba who wants Atem to help him find his brother, and the payment he's offering? To break Atem's curse, and return him to normal





	Please Don't Drive Me Blind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [venom_for_free](https://archiveofourown.org/users/venom_for_free/gifts).



> For venom_for_free, who drew an awesome peice of artwork of gorgon!Atem, and inspired several fics because of it, this is the first one
> 
> The title is from "Blind" by Placebo

_"Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you!?"_

_"You? Nothing, why, you've been a **delight** , your **father** on the other hand... he's the reason I am this way to begin with,"_

_He tugged harder on the chains wrapped around his wrists, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as he tried desperately to get away, made every effort to find an escape, but it wasn't working... nothing was working!!_

_"Akefia please-!"_

_"That's not my name anymore, your father made sure of that,"_

_His stomach sank, white hot panic bleeding through him as his eyes shifted down to the snow white snake that wrapped it's self around Akefia's arm, the creature opening it's jaws wide, showing off it's fangs and hissing lowly_

_"Please!! Please!!!"_

_"That's so undignified of you, Atem, to beg like that.... do it again,"_

_He was shaking, shaking like a leaf, gulping down breaths as he watched the demon walk closer, closer, closer..._

_"Please don't do this..."_

_"Come now, you can do better than that, need I remind you that I've heard you beg before? You were so much more passionate about it then,"_

_Just being reminded of their affair made Atem sick to his stomach, to realize that he had given himself to a creature such as this, to a man so evil, was utterly sickening_

_"Akefia-"_

_"It's Bakura now, really," he corrected, taking Atem by the hair and tugging his head back, slamming it against the wall behind him and watching in delight for a few moments as the human's chest heaved desperately with his breathing, his entire body trembling as Bakura moved his other arm upwards, allowing the snake to begin slithering ever further towards his face_

_"I wonder, what will it be like? A Seer who can only see through darkness, a healer who must cause gruesome harm just to survive, a photographer who can no longer look into the eyes of his subjects...."_

_"Please," Atem breathed, a tear slowly falling down his cheek_

_"Please don't drive me blind,"_

_"Blind?" Bakura chuckled, a sickening smirk on his face_

_"Oh darling, what I am about to do to you will be so **so** much worse than mere **blindness** , I can't say much for the Greeks... but they did have rather creative punishments,"_

_With that, the snake struck forward, and a scream penetrated the walls of the cellar_

 

Gasping, Atem shot up in bed, one hand flying to his chest, as if that would somehow calm his hammering heartbeat

That dream again....

That _memory_....

He lowered his head, carefully placing his face in his hands as he felt the familiar sobs of agony rack through him

Before this, he had cried so rarely

He had always been stronger, always kept himself more steady and grounded, but as of the last few years....

There was no way for him to handle it sometimes _without_ letting himself break down

He could feel the disgustingly familiar sensation of the snakes as they began to shift around against his scalp, quiet hisses and flicks of tongues interrupting his moment of agony

Perhaps, in some ways, this was even worse than what his eyes had been afflicted with

He had always hated snakes, it was a snake who cursed him, and now he was forced to deal with a nest of them living on his head, requiring food and water and _life it's self_ from him

The irony was sickening

One of the reptiles leaned down, tongue flicking out at him, meeting his eyes

"I know, I know," he grumbled miserably, reaching up to swat it away and receiving a hiss in response

Frustrated, he glanced at the clock, glaring at the glowing numbers staring back at him

5:02 A.M....

Great....

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he rolled out of bed, grabbing the sunglasses that sat on his nightstand and trudging slowly out of the bedroom

The snakes were getting more and more restless, but he could do little about that right now

He just needed to get downstairs....

He was so tired... but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep again until the snakes were fed

Trudging towards the cabinet, he stood on the tips of his toes and reached up, shifting the candy jars aside and reaching all the way into the back, eyes narrowing in slight frustration as he finally grabbed the jar he needed

He hated always having to stretch for it like this, but it was necessary

He couldn't risk it getting damaged, or getting seen by any random visitors...

Sitting down slowly in the chair behind him, he opened the jar and gave a quiet sigh, grabbing a cocktail fork from the rack next to him and sticking it into the jar, spearing the "food" he needed for the snake and holding it up, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt whatever snake was closest to the fork take the plump, round eye from the prongs and swallow it in it's entirety

Atem felt ill

He may have been having to do this for three years now, but that never made feeding the damn things _eyeballs_ any easier

 

~+~

 

He stretched his jaw, rolling his shoulders and trying to sort his muscles back into place as he stepped into the room once again, listening with moderate interest as the terrified prisoner screamed and tried to press himself further against the wall

It wouldn't do him any good, he was already chained to the wall, it wasn't as though he had anywhere else to go

"Please!!! Please!! Don't hurt me!!"

"Then tell me what I want to know," he said casually, slowly rubbing the back of his neck and popping it back into place properly

"I don't... I don't know! I don't have the answer!!"

"Oh... we _both_ know that isn't true," the brunette replied casually, turning his wrist slowly, a small fog of shadows beginning to form at his fingertips

"Please Mr. Kaiba! Please!"

"If you don't want to be in pain, then I suggest you tell me where he is," he replied coldly, the shadows beginning to weave themselves into the shape of a long, intricate dagger

"I don't know! I haven't seen him in some time!!"

"Liar!" the man snarled, tossing the dagger into the stranger's shoulder and rolling his eyes at the agonized scream that peirced through the basement walls

"I know you know where he is, and if you don't tell me, I will remove something you'll miss FAR more than just your fingers!"

As if to make a bigger point of that, he tossed another shadow-made dagger at the man's injured hand- or, rather, his fingerless hand

"A-Alright!! Alright! I'll tell you want to know, just please, please stop!!"

"Good," he said slowly, taking another step closer, a third dagger beginning to form at his fingertips as he stared down at his prisoner

"I want to know... where can I find the man with snakes for hair?"

 

~+~

 

He hated this

He hated feeling this way

His head was aching and he was a little sick to his stomach, his entire body felt lethargic and he had a tendency for aches and pains during this time, but it was a necessary evil and he had been dealing with it for the last two and a half years, ever since he had come up with this solution, minute as it was

He heaved a quiet, long sigh, his face resting in his arms, sunglasses set aside, wincing as a random cramp seized up in his leg, it would be gone in a second, but it was always irritating, all the same

The snakes on his head, in the mean time, were apparently living their best damn life, guzzling up the bowl of milk that Atem had set in front of them gleefully

It had taken him a wile to find the right balance of sedatives to put in that milk to toe the line between having the most effect on the snakes and the least effect on him, it had been a horrible trial and error period of snakes coming awake at sudden moments or accidentally putting himself to sleep, making himself sick, giving himself unmanageable migraines...

And not to get him wrong, this practice didn't come without it's side effects, but it was the most manageable to date

Slowly, he felt the snakes begin to doze off, and finally lifted his head up, grabbing the beautifull red and gold scarf he had placed on the table beside him and carefully gathering the snakes up inside it, wrapping and bundling it carefully but securely so that they were hidden

It had taken him quite a bit of time to learn how to do that without looking into a mirror, and in fact, for the first year, he had to have help, but just like with all of his other relearning tasks, he had eventually managed

Now that the snakes were managed, he could go back to planning his next project

Still life was far from his favorite thing to photograph...

But it was all he had left anymore

Atleast there was a magazine interested in him for taking photos of some plants, and as that was outdoors in the sun, he had plenty of excuses to be wearing his sunglasses too

For now he wasn't

For now he was simply scribbling out a few ideas in his notebook, hoping to get over the worst of his side effects before he needed to leave for his other job

He always hoped for that

It never really worked out, but he always hoped anyway

 

~+~

 

"I want to speak to your best Seer!"

"I'm sorry Sir, but none of our Seers are currently available,"

Growling under his breath, the brunette slammed his fists on the counter, glaring at the smaller man across from him

"Don't give me that, I know he's here! The man with the snakes in his hair, I know he-!"

"If you want me, then here I am,"

Turning around slowly, the tall, blue-eyed man came face to face with Atem, who had just walked into the shop seconds before

"Don't feel obligated to read him, Atem, I don't want to give in to bullying," added the man behind the counter

"No.... it's alright, aibou, he needs something from me... something much more than most of our clients, and I want to help,"

With that said, the Seer walked forward, his cane clicking quietly with every step he took until he reached the taller individual

"You _will_ apologize to my employer, however, before I even _consider_ helping you,"

Giving a curt nod, the stranger turned back to the man behind the counter and offered a tense "I apologize for my behavior", before turning back to the Seer again

"Shall we?"

Sighing, he reluctantly accepted with a nod, waving his hand for the stranger to follow as he made his way to one of the back rooms, opening the door and gesturing to the tall, ornate chair to his right, before taking a seat in the matching on to his left, setting his cane against the wall and settling in, holding his hands palms up on the small, round table in front of them

"Tell me your name and give me your hands please,"

"Seto Kaiba," the brunette answered gruffly, setting his hands gently in Atem's

"And what do you seek from me today, Seto Kaiba?"

"My brother has gone missing, I want you to help me find him, and you can drop the blind act anytime, I know you can see,"

Blinking in surprise- though it wasn't noticeable behind the sunglasses- Atem tilted his head

"How did you know it was an act?"

"I know more about you thank you think,"

"Well that's ominous," Atem snorted

"Perhaps, but all the same, I know you're cursed, and I can _remove_ that curse for you, if you'd like, in payment for finding my brother, ofcourse,"

This was... certainly a surprise

Enough of one that Atem found himself drawing back, slowly moving his hands away from Seto's, not all the way, but enough to show a recoil

"This is.... this is a demon's curse, you can't just-"

"Can't... what?" Seto asked slowly, his eyes slowly flickering from their normal deep blue, to being solid, pupilless black

That was all Atem needed to jerk his hands away completely, almost falling out of his chair as he pushed himself back against the wall

"Demon... I will not use dark magic! I renounce myself from it! I only work with The Light-!"

"Calm yourself, _Medusa_ , I'm _half_ demon, I was born a witch, and gaining demonic powers was not my choice,"

"Then how-!?"

"Later, right now all that needs to matter to you is that I'm offering to remove your curse for you at the small price of helping me find my brother, think about it, you'll be rid of those snakes, rid of your awfull, _awfull_ power, once and for all... you can go back to your normal life, back to your jobs- both of them improved back to how they were before your 'tragic accident', it takes a demon to break a demon's curse after all, and you WERE about to help me a few minutes ago just for typical reading price, now I'm offering you something invaluable, don't you think that's a better deal?"

Atem swallowed tightly... but seemingly agreed, slowly reaching forward and resting his hands in Seto's again, giving them a small squeeze

"Fair enough," he settled, taking a slow, calming breath and closing his eyes

"Then let's begin,"

 

~+~

 

"You can't be serious, you're going with him!?"

"He's going to remove my curse.... besides, his brother is in danger, I cannot just leave him there, as things are-"

"Do I need to remind you of what happened the last time you blindly trusted a demon!?"

Atem's expression fell from guilty to tired, and his partner immediately winced at the accidental implications

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"I know Yugi, it's ok," he promised gently, giving his partner a tight hug as the smaller man leaned up, wrapping his arms around Atem's neck and hugging him back just as tightly

"Come back to me safely...." he insisted quietly, turning to glare at Seto menacingly

"Or _someone_ will be paying the consequences,"

"Trust me, I'm not going to hurt him, that would be counterproductive," Seto replied blandly, watching as Atem slowly unwrapped himself from the shop owner's embrace and stepped back, giving a small nod to Yugi before taking Seto's hand

"I will be back soon, partner," he promised, a weak smile on his face as he gave Seto's hand a small tug, guiding him carefully out of the shop

"You'd better, Atem," Yugi muttered back, rubbing his arm anxiously and watching as the shop door closed behind them

 

~+~

 

"How did you know about my curse anyway?" Atem muttered quietly

"I've heard things, demons talk, being half of one, I'm partial at times to their conversations, I've heard about the best Seer in Japan, about how he went blind three years ago and started wearing his wild, three-toned hair in a scarf, incidentally, at around the same time, I also heard about Bakura finally getting his revenge on the son of the man who he claims caused him to lose his soul, it wasn't hard to peice together, Bakura likes his irony, a Seer who has to cover his eyes, a healer who causes harm, it seemed to fit... he also likes his old fairytales, Medusa seemed like something he would draw inspiration from,"

"But how did you know I could still see?"

"Because if you were blind that would be too easy, you wouldn't be able to see anyone at all, but being able to see people yet ... always through some sort of covering, never able to look them in the eye, never able to _really_ see them for who they are... that must murder you inside, besides, you're still a photographer, if you were blind and taking the photos you take, you'd be all over the news as some sort of prodigy,"

"Well, aren't you smart?" Atem huffed, leaning back in the seat and staring out the window listlessly

"Has it taken you this long to figure that out?" Seto replied blandly, his eyes focused completely on the road

He couldn't get to the warehouse quickly enough....

"Carefull, I could still kill you, you know, I _gurantee_ I can flash my pearly whites at you before you can pull that demon-eye trick and sheild yourself,"

"Pearly whites? Isn't it looking into your _eyes_ that turns people to stone?"

"My eyes are white now, thanks to Bakura,"

That... actually caused Seto to glance away from the road, breifly though it may be, glancing at the side of Atem's head

"What color were they before?"

"Red,"

" _Red?_ I thought you were just a Seer,"

"I am, but don't you know that Seers always have unusual eyes, Mr. Smarty Pants?"

"Unusual, sure, but I thought red was reserved for vampires and Fire Weilders,"

"Evidently not,"

Seto exhaled slowly, settling on the idea that he was probably not going to be getting much information out of Atem like he had hoped

At around this point though, just as he was making a turn to get to the road he needed, Seto heard the man beside him wince, his attention turning back towards him and noting the look of pain on his face

"What's wrong?'

"It's nothing..."

"I didn't ask if I should be concerned, I asked what was wrong,"

Atem's jaw tensed, but he just didn't have the energy to keep deflecting- another side effect of the sedatives

"Just... a cramp in my back... I feed my snakes sedatives to get a little peace, to go out in public... to have a _life_... but the drugs aren't without their consequences,"

Seto was quiet for a moment, the only sound in the car being the radio, some American rock and roll song he didn't recognize playing lowly at Atem's request, until-

"Give me your hand," he insisted suddenly, holding his hand out for the stranger, one hand still on the weel

"... Why?" Atem frowned with suspicion, staring at Seto wearily through his sunglasses

"Just give it to me, I'm trying to help you,"

Figuring he had very little left to lose, he slowly and somewhat reluctantly obeyed, setting his hand in Seto's and gasping quietly as the half-demon curled his fingers around the Seer's, a cool, soothing pulse running from his palm through Atem's, all the way up his arm, flooding his body like a drink of cold water

And then Seto drew away, and when he did, Atem felt the persistent headache that had been gnawing at him for hours finally leave with the other's hand

"You're a Pain Drainer...." Atem said quietly, sheer amazement on his face

Pain Drainers were an exceedingly rare type of witch who specialized in healing magic, they were, in a way, the frateral twin of empaths, being able to sense and take away physical pain in opposition to empaths who could sense and take away emotional pain

Unlike empaths, however, who could be born into virtually any species, Pain Drainers were exclusive to those born with magic in their veins, as it was magic, not psychic energy, that allowed for the ability to begin with

"Don't go around telling people, I don't exactly like advertising it," Seto grumbled, putting one hand to his mouth slowly and suddenly coughing into it, wincing in pain as he did so, and pulling his hand back to find a small splattering of blood now decorating his pale skin

Glancing at Atem, he cleared his throat, a pained look still on his face as he pointed his index finger at the Seer

" _That_ , is alot, what the fuck possesses you to do this to yourself? And on a daily basis, is it?" he huffed, reaching into the glove compartment for tissues to clean up the blood with

"Live with a nest of snakes on your head day in and day out for three years, then ask me that again," Atem huffed, shifting uncomfortably as he turned his attention out the window again

"Physical pain is a small price to pay for the releif of such a heavy burden, even if it's only for a few hours,"

Seto was quiet for a moment, cleaning his hand of the blood and turning his attention back to the road

".... I understand,"

That's ultimately what he said, and somehow, even though he wasn't sure why, Atem had a feeling that he meant it

"How do those things work anyway? They seem to be their own living organisms, do they eat? Drink? How do you sedate them? Do they breathe? Excrete venom?"

Atem exhaled quietly, but he was used to these questions by now, everyone who knew about the snakes had asked them at some point or another

"They eat eyeballs,"

It was appropriate that a red light was ahead of them, what with the way that Seto nearly slammed on the brakes and stared at Atem, who didn't even bother looking away from the window

" _Eyeballs_?"

"Irony, remember? I get them from the morgue, my freind works there and he lets me have them, in return I occasionally assist with forensic photography,"

".... Eyeballs, ok, right," Seto mumbled back, stepping on the gas again as the light turned green

"They only have to eat one or two a day, I don't even think they really _need_ them so much as just _like_ them, but if I don't feed them, they get irritable, they hiss, they squirm, they bite at me..."

"Sounds... rough, how did you even figure out that feeding them eyeballs would work?"

"Well it started off as a joke that Yugi made in trying to lighten my mood, when I first started dealing with this curse, Yugi is an empath, he said they were hungry, atleast that's what he could gleam from them, they aren't..... it isn't like having a bunch of _pets_ , their sentience is about on par with an A.I. system, they're 'programmed'- so to speak- to act a certain way thanks to Ake- .. Bakura... and anyway, I was completely unwilling to feed them what snakes _usually_ eat so Yugi tried to lighten my mood by suggesting eyeballs and... they must have _heard_ him... they started acting differently, so I went to the morgue and gave it a shot- lo and behold,"

"... That's an incredibly dark story,"

"Isn't all of this an incredibly dark story though?"

"I suppose.... you seem ok with it though, the eyeballs I mean,"

"Better than the alternative, my empathy for animals is exceedingly high, my empathy for humans is... _moderate_ ,"

"Mm... I understand, I'm that way too,"

He wasn't sure why, but something about that made his lips tick up into a small smirk, a softer, more relaxed look on his face as he glanced at Seto out of the corner of his eye

"To answer your other questions- yes, they can drink things, though they don't have to, that's how they get the sedatives, I put it in milk, they don't breathe, and if they do excrete venom, I haven't noticed it, I'm the only person they've bitten so if they're venomous, I guess I'm immune,"

"They bite you? Isn't that like-"

"Kicking their own ass? Not really, I'm more of a host to them than a part of their body, they're more like a _tumor_ , feeding on me, needing me for survival, but not actually caring about me in any form,"

"That's.... rough, have you thought about just... getting rid of them?"

"Oh sure, I tried that in the beginning, but every snake I 'kill' not only grows back- and with a vengeance at that- but another grows along with it, as punishment, I assume, for trying to get rid of them in the first place,"

This time, Seto went quiet

He had nothing he could say to that, nothing that sounded even remotely right

So finally, after several long moments of silence, he merely decided to side-step the issue all together

"Thank you, for coming with me to get my brother back,"

"You don't have to thank me, you're removing the curse, I should be the one thanking you, wich reminds me... why are you so willing to help me anyway? No other demon has been, no matter what I've offered them,"

Seto merely shrugged, his focus on the road once again

"Bakura doesn't scare me, that's all there is to it,"

"Well you're either very brave or very stupid,"

"Neither, I'm confident that if he ever _did_ try to come after me, he would fail,"

Atem felt his lips slowly curving upwards, his expression warm and ... fond

Just.. fond

However, he was starting to get drowsy, the stress of the day, the lack of sleep last night, and the soothing movement of the car were all enough to lull him into a well earned sleep

And before he knew it, he found himself dozing off in the passenger's seat, comfortable, for once, with the company beside him

 

~+~

 

"You're sure that this is the right place?"

"If you wanted evidence, you should have gone to a cop rather than a Seer," Atem noted plainly

Seto merely shrugged that off, flicking his wrist as he watched the lock on the warehouse door click open

......

That was too easy

"Remember what I said before, Seto, he's waiting for you, he's expecting you, it's _me_ who he is not expecting,"

Seto gave a slow nod, trying to keep their plans in the forefront of his mind for the sake of keeping his sanity

They were both going to go in, Seto would go for his brother and Atem would hold off the kidnapper

That was the plan.... he just hoped they could pull it off

And he hoped that Atem was trust-worthy enough that he could trust the Seer not to betray him the moment it became convenient...

He could see the snakes under Atem's head-scarf slowly beginning to move, clearly the sedatives were starting to wear off

He had never thought that such a thing would be so unsettling to witness, particularly considering that he was still wearing the scarf, so Seto couldn't even see the snakes themselves....

Trying to clear his head of it, he yanked the door open to the warehouse and stepped inside, a light summoned in his hand to guide his way as he stepped slowly inside

He was on his guard, looking for any sign of life, be it his brother, the kidnapper, or someone else....

At first there was nothing

No living creature, no sign that anyone or anything was around in the empty space...

A few steps in, however, that began to change

_"Seto!!!"_

Immediately, caution was put aside, and Seto sprinted for the voice calling out to him, his heart racing as he charged ahead

"Mokuba!? Mokuba!! Where are you!?"

_"I'm here! I'm here!"_

He raced further towards the sound, further into the dark warehouse, only the light in his hand guiding him forward, but as he ran, Atem- who had been walking cautiously behind him all this time- came to a sudden stop

"Seto.... Seto that isn't your brother calling you! It's Pegasus!" Atem shouted desperately

That was all Seto needed to hear, he immediately increased the light in his palm, shining it forward and feeling his heart sink

Atem was right....

It wasn't his brother standing there, it was Pegasus, holding a tape-recorder, a sickening smirk on his face

"Ooh how dreadfull, it seems as though I've been found out, your little freind is quite smart," he nodded far too gleefully

"Pegasus!!" Seto sneered, anger clear in his voice as he summoned a sword to his hands and started charging forward, despite Atem's efforts to shout out to him and stop him

Pegasus only snickered, a sickening grin on his face as he suddenly vanished before the CEO

"Now now Kaiba Boy, let's not be hasty,"

"Where are you!? What have you done with Mokuba!?"

"I'll tell you after we've had a propper talk, you and I, you see I don't think we ever finished that discussion about my _partnering_ with you to run Kaiba Corp!"

"Partnering?! You wanted to take over! And either way, you're never getting your hands on my company!"

"Then I'm afraid poor little Mokuba will have to suffer the consequences for your greed, now won't he?"

Atem was trying his hardest to tune out the arguing between the two of them, to close his eyes and focus on his powers instead

Focus... focus....

He needed to focus all of his energy on finding out where Pegasus really was or they would never get anywhere...

Focus... focus....

Suddenly the vision came to him, and Atem knew where to go

He rushed in the opposite direction as Seto, his eyes closed, anticipating each of Pegasus' movements

The silver-haired man had caught onto the fact that Atem was coming after him, he was trying to get away, trying to outsmart them and sneak out...

But he clearly wasn't anticipating Atem being a Seer

Rounding the corner ahead of the other man, Atem caught sight of him and tore the scarf off of his head

As predicted, the sound of all the hissing snakes was enough to distract Pegasus, enough to make him turn around, and pull a scream of terror out of his throat

Atem used the opportunity to grab the stranger by the arm and yank him forward, slamming him into the nearest wall and pressing himself closer, letting his snakes hiss and dance threateningly in front of his face

"Who... who are you!?" Pegasus shreiked, pressing himself flat against the wall, clearly trying to avoid the snakes as much as he possibly could

"That doesn't matter, now does it?" Atem replied coldly

"You.... you're a Seer too, aren't you? Cursed by Bakura? I used to be the same way you know, I had it all once! Before I made a deal with that devil and couldn't pay his price... how do you think I lost my eye?" he asked, far too casually, brushing his hair aside to show the fake golden eye that rested in place of a real eye

"I really don't care, you will make a blood oath to leave Seto Kaiba and his family alone, or I'll turn you to stone," Atem said coldly

"Unless you'd prefer me to just take your other eye that is,"

As if to emphasize his point, one of the snakes snapped at Pegasus, right in front of his eye, and caused him to shreik

"Fine, fine! I'll make the oath, but I hope you enjoy living with that curse, Nameless Seer! There is only one way to remove it, after all, by making the same sacrifice I made,"

"You think I couldn't live without an eye to get rid of this curse?" Atem scoffed

"Oooh but it's so much _worse_ than just losing an eye! I lost my _powers_ as well, how would you feel about _that_ , Nameless Seer? Give up one sight to save another! Blind your third eye to remove the curse from the other two! Bakura certainly loves his irony doesn't he!?"

Atem swallowed hard, trying his best not to show his disdain and ... _fear_ for that idea as he glared at Pegasus again, raising his free hand up to tilt his sunglasses downwards, not enough to expose his eyes- _yet_

"Just make the oath,"

He would deal with the consequences later...

 

~+~

 

"Thank you for getting my brother back to me,"

Atem nodded slowly, keeping his head turned away as Seto drove

Mokuba, who had been kept in the basement of the warehouse that Atem had envisioned, was sleeping currently in the backseat, having been rescued around an hour ago

They were on their way back to Domino City now, the mission successfull

Atem had sedated the snakes once again before leaving, always keeping a few ounces of the medication on him just in case of being out longer than he anticipated like he had been this time, and now the three of them were considerably peacefull in their ride back to town

Well... for the most part, anyway

"I'm heading back to my house, I can break your curse there,"

Yes.... his curse.....

He had been thinking about that ever since his "conversation" with Pegasus...

"Actually, Seto.... consider this a freebie, I've.... changed my mind about breaking the curse,"

" _Changed your mind_?" Seto asked in sheer disbeleif

"Tell me you're joking, what, you couldn't have become attached to those snakes could you?"

"No it isn't the snakes,"

"Then-"

"Pegasus said the only way to break the curse would be to give up an eye and my sight- my... my _extra_ sight,"

"I could heal your eye," Seto noted

Then it was true.... Pegasus hadn't just been bluffing

"But you could not bring back my second sight, could you?"

He decided to take Seto's silence as a "no"

Damn....

"And I assume you knew this when you first offered to get rid of my curse for me? When had you planned to tell me!?"

"Before conducting the procedure, obviously,"

Atem huffed, his shoulders sagging as he peered out the window once again

It was dark now, night had fallen, it was hard to see in these sunglasses but ofcourse he couldn't take them off....

"There is another way, you know, but I didn't think you would want it."

Now that had Atem's interest perked, finally turning away from the window and staring at Seto anxiously

"Why? What is it? I'll do _anything_ to keep my second sight, I need it, it's who I am-!"

"The only other way is to share my magic with you," he said suddenly, effectively cutting off the Seer

"... Share your magic, you mean... make me a half-demon like you?"

Seto gave a single nod, but said nothing more

"So to break this curse I either have to lose part of myself... or become something I despise?"

"Irony," Seto pointed out

.. Damn, Bakura really had thought of everything...

"You don't have to choose now,"

"I know that, but thank you for telling me,"

Seto only shrugged, but Atem knew that they had a sort of... understanding, between eachother

"I'm not going to force you into anything, it isn't... right, to force anyone into something like this, into anything like this,"

"Why do I feel as though you speak from experience about this?"

"Is that what you gleam from my comment?"

"What I _gleam_ from knowing you this last day is that demonic powers were forced on you, against your will... I don't know what it was that brought that upon you, but whatever it is, I'm sorry that it happened,"

Seto's grip on the weel tightened visibly, but he said nothing more

"But what would you do, if you were me? You're a witch, a Pain Drainer, you're a creature of the light, just as I am, so tell me... is it worth it? Having to deal with the shadows? Do you think it would be worth it?"

"If I were in the position of having to live with that curse, give up my powers, or be afflicted by the shadows.... then yes, I would say the shadows are worth it, but that's only my decision, it shouldn't necessarily be your's,"

Atem was quiet for a few moments, rolling over the decisions in his head, thinking on them back and forth, weighing each and every option....

And slowly curled his hand around one of Seto's

"Ok," he finally decided

"I'd like you to share your powers with me,"

Seto came to a red light, turning to look at Atem, wishing in the back of his mind that he could look into his eyes instead of being forced to stare at his reflection in those sunglasses

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly, leaning a little bit closer

Atem's lips twitched up into a small smile, leaning in as well and reaching up to gently cup Seto's face

"Positive,"

The red light lasted for only another moment, but in that moment, they both closed their eyes, closed the distance between them, and let themselves exist in a moment of seclusion with eachother, wherein the only thing that mattered was the kiss they shared

It was fleeting, but it was there

 

~+~

 

The first thing Atem saw when the curse was lifted was a set of deep blue eyes staring back at him

Red and blue, meeting uninhibited for the first time

Atem wasted no time, keeping his eyes open as he tugged Seto down for a kiss

Long and deep, and _joyfull_

He would never get tired of the feeling of Seto's fingers running through his hair- his _hair_ , not snakes, just -... _hair_ \- or the sensation of his lips on Atem's, but if there's one thing he couldn't get enough of, one thing he found himself seeking more than anything else, it was eye contact

He would never get tired of looking into Seto's deep blue eyes

And now that the curse was broken, he would never have to quit


End file.
